Email your poem or proposal to invisible@jimchines.com or jchines -at- gmail.com by the end of the day on November 30.

I’ve seen a few comments from people who weren’t sure if they could write well enough to submit, or whether their stories were worth sharing. Please don’t self-reject. Your voice and your story matters.

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Reminder #2: The next TGM fundraiser will go up at noon on Monday. In the meantime, I’ve drawn the first winner in the DAW Books Raffle. But there are still eleven chances to win. A $5 donation gives you a chance at either a Tad Williams bundle or a bundle of all of DAW’s December releases (plus a random ARC).

Transgender Michigan was founded in 1997, and continues to run one of the only transgender helplines in the country, available 24/7 at 855-345-8464. Every tax-deductible donation helps them continue to provide support, advocacy, and education.

The winner will also receive a Tuckerization, meaning you — yes, you — will show up in the pages of Dellamonica’s next book.

About the book:

Marine videographer and biologist Sophie Hansa has spent the past few months putting her knowledge of science to use on the strange world of Stormwrack, solving seemingly impossible cases where no solution had been found before.

When a series of ships within the Fleet of Nations, the main governing body that rules a loose alliance of island nation states, are sunk by magical sabotage, Sophie is called on to find out why. While surveying the damage of the most recent wreck, she discovers a strange-looking creature—a fright, a wooden oddity born from a banished spell—causing chaos within the ship. The question is who would put this creature aboard and why?

Enter your bid in the comments. Bids must be a minimum of $1 more than the previous bid. (No bouncing back and forth in the bids one penny at a time.) Make sure to include an email address I can use to contact you.

Each auction will run for 24 hours, starting at noon Eastern time and running until noon the following day.

To discourage last-minute sniping, I’ll wait until 10 minutes after the last bid to close an auction.

If you want to be notified about other bids, check the “Subscribe to Comments” box when you bid.

Winning the auction:

I’ll contact the winner, who will then donate the winning bid to Transgender Michigan. You’ll forward me a copy of the receipt, at which point, I’ll contact the donor to arrange delivery of your winnings.

About A. M. Dellamonica:

A. M Dellamonica‘s first novel, Indigo Springs, won the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. Her fourth A Daughter of No Nation, has just won the Prix Aurora. She is the author of over forty short stories in a variety of genres; these can be found on Tor.com, Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, and most recently, Beneath Ceaseless Skies. She teaches writing in person at the University of Toronto and online through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.

Dellamonica tells people she is bigendered, bisexual and bisectional. (The latter means that she sings both soprano and alto.) She has just completed her freshman editing project, the Heiresses of Russ 2015 anthology with co-editor Steve Berman of Lethe Books.

6 Tad Williams Bundles: each bundle includes one copy of Otherland: City of Golden Shadow (hardcover first edition, first printing) plus 1 Advance Review Copy of The Heart of What Was Lost.

6 DAW December Release Bundles: each bundle includes one copy of all DAW December titles: Dreamweaver, Tempest, Alien Nation, and Jerusalem Fire, plus a bonus ARC (dependent on stock).

At any time between now and the end of the fundraiser, donate $5 to Transgender Michigan and email me a copy of the receipt at jchines -at- gmail.com, with the subject line “DAW Raffle Entry.” Each week, I’ll pick at least one donor to win their choice of either a Tad Williams or a December Release bundle from DAW.

You can donate more than $5. For example, donating $20 would get you four entries. However, you can only win a maximum of one of each bundle. This is separate from the individual auctions. Winning an auction does not count as a raffle entry.

Transgender Michigan was founded in 1997, and continues to run one of the only transgender helplines in the country, available 24/7 at 855-345-8464. Every tax-deductible donation helps them continue to provide support, advocacy, and education.

We begin the fundraiser with autographed copies of the Star Wars novels AFTERMATH (paperback) and AFTERMATH: LIFE DEBT (hardcover), by Chuck Wendig.

This auction is open to people outside of the U.S., but they will need to cover shipping costs.

How to bid:

Minimum bid is $20. Bidding starts the moment this post goes live!

Enter your bid in the comments. Bids must be a minimum of $1 more than the previous bid. (No bouncing from $20.01 to $20.02 to $20.03 and so on.) Make sure to include an email address I can use to contact you.

Each auction will run for 24 hours, starting at noon Eastern time and running until noon the following day.

To discourage last-minute sniping, I’ll wait until 10 minutes after the last bid to close an auction.

If you want to be notified about other bids, check the “Subscribe to Comments” box when you bid.

Winning the auction:

I’ll contact the winner, who will then donate the winning bid to Transgender Michigan. You’ll forward me a copy of the receipt, at which point, I’ll contact the donor to arrange delivery of your winnings.

About Chuck Wendig:

According to Wikipedia, Chuck Wendig “is an American author, comic book writer, screenwriter, and blogger. He is best known for his popular online blog Terribleminds, and for his 2015 Star Wars novel Aftermath, which debuted at #4 on The New York Times Best Seller list and #4 on USA Today‘s best seller list. As of early 2016, Wendig writes Hyperion for Marvel and The Shield for Dark Circle Comics.” (I happen to know he’s also a skilled photographer, and connoisseur of creative profanity.)

6 Tad Williams Bundles: each bundle includes one copy of Otherland: City of Golden Shadow (hardcover first edition, first printing) plus 1 Advance Review Copy of The Heart of What Was Lost.

6 DAW December Release Bundles: each bundle includes one copy of all DAW December titles: Dreamweaver, Tempest, Alien Nation, and Jerusalem Fire, plus a bonus ARC (dependent on stock).

At any time between now and the end of the fundraiser, donate $5 to Transgender Michigan and email me a copy of the receipt at jchines -at- gmail.com, with the subject line “DAW Raffle Entry.” Each week, I’ll pick at least one donor to win their choice of either a Tad Williams or a December Release bundle from DAW.

You can donate more than $5. For example, donating $20 would get you four entries. However, you can only win a maximum of one of each bundle. This is separate from the individual auctions. Winning an auction does not count as a raffle entry.

I met Rachel Crandall more than twenty years ago, when I first started volunteering at the Listening Ear crisis center in East Lansing, Michigan.

I remember some of the conversations we had as she was coming out, and some of the challenges she talked about. We fell out of touch for a while, as happens sometimes. When we reconnected again years later, I was amazed at the things Rachel had accomplished, including founding the International Transgender Day of Visibility and working with her partner, Susan Crocker, to start what I believe was the first transgender helpline in the country.

Transgender Michigan was founded in 1997, and continues to run one of the only transgender helplines in the country, available 24/7 at 855-345-8464.

We know transgender youth are at a higher risk of depression and suicide, and these coming months and years could be very difficult. Therefore, I’ve enlisted some very generous SF/F friends to put together a fundraiser to help Transgender Michigan continue their important work providing support, education, and advocacy.

24 Auctions in 24 Days

Each day at noon (with the exception of Thanksgiving weekend), I’ll post an auction from one of the people listed below. It could be for autographed books, a manuscript critique, a Tuckerization (where you get to be a minor character in an upcoming book), or something else altogether. Bidding will take place in the comments, one bid at a time.

The following day at noon, I’ll close the bidding and notify the winner. The winner then donates their bid to Transgender Michigan and sends me the receipt, at which point I’ll send your information to the donor so they can hook you up with your winnings.

6 Tad Williams Bundles: each bundle includes one copy of Otherland: City of Golden Shadow (hardcover first edition, first printing) plus 1 Advance Review Copy of The Heart of What Was Lost.

6 DAW December Release Bundles: each bundle includes one copy of all DAW December titles: Dreamweaver, Tempest, Alien Nation, and Jerusalem Fire, plus a bonus ARC (dependent on stock).

Have I mentioned before how amazing my publisher is?

How can you win one of these awesome bundles? That’s easy. At any time between now and the end of the fundraiser, simply donate $5 to Transgender Michigan and email me a copy of the receipt at jchines -at- gmail.com, with the subject line “DAW Raffle Entry.”

Each week, I’ll pick at least one donor to win their choice of either a Tad Williams or a December Release bundle from DAW. (Which means the earlier you enter, the better your chances of winning!)

You can donate more than $5 if you want more than one entry. For example, donating $20 would get you four entries. However, you can only win a maximum of one of each bundle.

This is separate from the individual auctions. Winning an auction does not count as a raffle entry.

Yesterday was the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, memorializing those “who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.” In my mind, that makes today the perfect time to work to make things better.

My thanks to everyone who helped make this happen. Please spread the word about the fundraiser, and about the individual auctions as they go live.

And if you want a hint about tomorrow’s auction? Well…let’s just say the Force will be with you, always.

Several people pointed out that the pre-order page for Terminal Alliance doesn’t yet have any information on the story, and it might be nice to know what they’re ordering. Dang…people are so picky, you know?

Anyway, I’ve updated my website with the following description. This isn’t the final, official synopsis, but it’s what I sent my editor for their sales meeting, and is true to the manuscript I’ll be finishing up and turning in.

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Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse, Book 1: Terminal Alliance

When the Krakau came to Earth, they planned to invite humanity into a growing alliance of sentient species.

This would have worked out better for all involved if they hadn’t arrived after a mutated plague wiped out half the planet, turned the rest into shambling, near-unstoppable animals, and basically destroyed human civilization. You know—your standard apocalypse.

The Krakau’s first impulse was to turn their ships around and go home. After all, it’s hard to establish diplomatic relations with mindless savages who eat your diplomats.

Their second impulse was to try to fix us.

A century later, human beings might not be what they once were, but hey, at least they stopped trying to eat everyone. Mostly.

Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos is surprisingly bright (for a human). As a Lieutenant on the Earth Mercenary Corps Ship Pufferfish, she’s in charge of the Shipboard Hygiene and Sanitation team. When a bioweapon attack by an alien race wipes out the Krakau command crew and reverts the rest of the humans to their feral state, only Mops and her team are left with their minds intact.

Escaping the attacking aliens—not to mention her shambling crewmates—is only the beginning. Sure, Mops and her assortment of space janitors and plumbers can clean the ship, but flying the damn thing is another matter. As they struggle to keep the Pufferfish functioning and find a cure for their crew, they stumble onto a conspiracy that could threaten the entire alliance.

A conspiracy born from the truth of what happened on Earth all those years ago…

Two quick announcements today as I try to keep up with everything else.

Announcement the First:Terminal Alliance, the first book of my Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse series, is now up for pre-order with a tentative release date of August 1, 2017. Insert anxious/excited author squeak here.

In 2014, twelve authors and fans shared their stories about the importance of representation in science fiction/fantasy in Invisible. In 2015, seventeen more people came together for Invisible 2. Their essays are personal, powerful, and very much needed. These stories help to create understanding and connection. They expose the power of our genre both to help and to harm.

I’m thrilled to announce that I’m partnering with author and editor Mary Anne Mohanraj to begin work on Invisible 3.

We’re looking for personal, first-hand stories between 400 and 1000 words talking about the impact of SF/F stories and what it’s like to see yourself misrepresented or erased, or relegated to the backgrounds. We’re also interested in the ways underrepresented and marginalized writers have worked to reclaim space in the genre.

While the primary focus is on these personal essays, we’d like to incorporate a few poems for this volume as well.

As in previous years, accepted works will first be published online, and then collected and published as part of the Invisible 3 anthology. Contributors will receive a $10 payment.

Once author and artist payments have been covered, all additional proceeds will go to the Con or Bust program, helping people of color to attend SFF conventions.

Here’s our proposed schedule for the anthology:

By December 1: Interested authors should email invisible@jimchines.com with your proposed topic. (For Invisible 2, I had more than three times as many proposals as I could use. This will allow Mary Anne and I to make sure we have a range of topics and contributors.)

ETA:I’ve had two reports of emails bouncing from that invisible address. Most submissions appear to be coming through fine, but if you have any trouble, you can use my backup email address: jchines42 -at- hotmail.com.

By January 1: Mary Anne and I will contact potential contributors to let them know whether we’re able to use their suggested essays/poems.

By February 1: Contributors write and submit their works. Mary Anne and I will read and follow up with revision requests as needed.

By March 1: Final essays due.

March 15: Begin running the essays online.

By April 30: Publish Invisible 3.

Please comment or email if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you.

Jim & Mary Anne

About the Editors:

Mary Anne Mohanraj wrote and edited Bodies in Motion, The Stars Change, and twelve other titles. BiM was a finalist for the Asian American Book Awards and has been translated into six languages. TSC was a finalist for the Lambda, Rainbow, and Bisexual Book Awards. Mohanraj founded Strange Horizons, directs the Speculative Literature Foundation, and is an English professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Jim C. Hines is the author of twelve fantasy novels and more than 50 published short stories. In addition to Invisible and Invisible 2, he edited the Heroes in Training anthology for DAW Books. He’s an active blogger, and won the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Fan

A lot of people have been talking about harassment and violence since the election, often done in Trump’s name. Others claim the stories are all made up, that it’s deliberate fearmongering.

I get that a lot of people who supported Trump don’t want to be associated with racism and hatred, and sometimes it’s hard to know what stories to trust, especially on the internet. So I’m pulling together some examples where there’s documentation of what actually happened — actual news articles, photographs, video, etc. These things are happening in the U.S. right now.

Obviously, I denounce this behavior. It’s hateful, violent, and un-American. But the fact is, most of the people perpetuating or encouraging this stuff aren’t going to listen to me. I’ve been dismissed again and again as one of those gullible, libtard, SJW idiots. I’ll keep doing what I can to raise awareness and push back, but what would help more is for those of you who did vote for Trump to do the same.

Don’t pretend these incidents aren’t real. Don’t turn your back on people who are being harassed and attacked and threatened because they don’t look white, or because they’re not male, or because they’re disabled, or because they’re gay, and so on.

I keep hearing how angry Trump supporters are at being called racist and bigoted and hateful. Prove it. Speak up.

Message of Unity Vandalized with “Trump 2016”. Theresa Govert, of East Haddam, Connecticut, painted a sign saying, “Dear Muslims, immigrants, women, disabled, LGBTQ and all people of color, we love you boldly and proudly. We will endure.” It was vandalized within the day. (Photograph)

Campus police investigate robbery as hate crime. “‘Comments made to the student indicate she was targeted because of her Muslim faith, including her wearing of a traditional garment and hijab,’ a statement from SDSU President Elliot Hirshman, Vice President of Student Affairs Eric Rivera and Interim Chief of Police Josh Mays said.”

There are so, so many more reports out there of people being harassed and attacked. I could spend all weekend adding to this list of documented incidents. Shaun King has been collecting reports over on Twitter. He has reports of people being threatened, insulted, physically and sexually assaulted, and more.

The typical defensive reactions I’ve seen fall into one of three categories:

It’s all made up. It’s not really happening. It’s just liberal fearmongering.

It’s all being done by liberals to make Trump supporters look bad.

Well, what about these other things that Hillary supporters did?

Starting with the first point, we’ve all learned you can’t trust everything you read on the internet. We know that one report of an attack against a Muslim girl by Trump supporters turned out to be fabricated. So sure, we can’t say 100% of what’s being shared and reported is true. But it’s equally absurd to claim 100% are false. It didn’t take me that long to find support and evidence for the stories I linked to above. Not everything is true? Okay, fine. But a lot of it is, and that should be horrifying to all of us.

To the second point, that these are all done by liberals or Hillary supporters or whatever? Do you have any evidence whatsoever for that, or are you just using it as an excuse to ignore what’s happening? Even if this is true — and I’ve seen nothing to suggest that it is — this harassment and violence is still being done in Trump’s name, which means we really need to see Trump and his supporters speak out loudly against it.

As to the third point, that Hillary supporters did bad things too? One piece of this claim seems to default to, “All protests against Trump are riots,” which is a very dangerous road to go down. I’ve seen reports of people attacking a man for being a Trump supporter. (Snopes describes this as a mixture of fact and fiction, saying it actually arose out of a traffic altercation.) Look, it’s certainly possible that there are instances of Hillary supporters committing acts of harassment and violence too, and that’s not okay either. But this doesn’t erase the documented harassment and violence happening in Trump’s name.

If someone describes an act of hatred, saying “They did it too!” doesn’t make it all right. It just gives you an excuse to keep ignoring what that person is telling you.

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These incidents of racism, sexism, bigotry, harassment, and hatred are happening. They’re real. It’s easy to close your eyes and pretend they’re not happening when you’re not the one being targeted. But those people who are being targeted? They’re Americans. They’re men and women and children. They’re your neighbors. They’re your child’s schoolmates. They’re your coworkers. And they are afraid. They’re afraid because they can’t close their eyes. They’re afraid because they know they could be next.

They’re afraid not just because of the people committing these acts, but because so many more people stand by and say nothing. Because so many of us let this happen.

You want to push back against the idea that Trump supporters are racists and bigots? Then prove it! Speak up against the hate. Not just the blatant stuff, like the KKK’s planned victory march in support of Trump, but the everyday harassment and dehumanization.

Your voice is powerful. So is your silence.

“The standard you walk past, is the standard you accept.” -General David Lindsay Morrison